Automatic firearm



Oct. 18, 1938. G, ENGEL ET AL AUTOMATIC FIREARM Filed Jan. 25, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 .l luulln 1 1 1 l I l 1 1 I l .I

flo/a5'. @org Enge Z am( Iwl/en rw" Y Runyan! GfENGEl. ET AL AUTOMATIC FIREARM Oct. 18, 1938.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 25, 1937 l" 115,65 l? fa l 152.92 2,2 97g,

mrt/II Patented Oct. 18, 1938 Z,l33,56l

PATENT rrr AUTOMATIC FIREARM Georg Engel, Berlin-Reinickendorf, and Alfred Winter, Dusseldorf,

Germany, assgnors to Rheinmetall-Borsig Aktiengesellschaft, Dusseldorf, Germany, a corporation of Germany Application January 25, 1937, Serial No. 122,284 In Germany August 16, 1934 6 Claims.

For cooking automatic rearms having a sliding barrel and a locked breech there has been provided cooking mechanism by which the breech block is retracted until it is unlocked from the barrel which at rst moves with it, and which has been associated with transmission mechanism for the purpose of multiplying the manual force `exerted by the gunner. For this purpose there was used a hand-lever pivotally mounted in a longitudinal slide in the gun-casing, which, when itwas pivotally moved, exerted a force on the moving gun members until these members `reached the position in which the barrel and block were unlocked. From this position to the rear end position the breech block had to be drawn back by the sheer muscular effort of the gunner.

In the case of machine-guns of relatively large calibre, `this nal tensioning of the breech spring involves 'considerable difficulties.

According to the invention, the cooking mechanism for returning sliding parts of nrearms against the influence of the recuperator devices which store the recoil energy and release it to move the parts again forward is designed as a ratchet mechanism which is adapted to return the moving parts of the gun, in a series of steplike movements, over the entire recoil path into the cocked position. In this case the muscular force applied to cock the gun is multiplied throughout the entire opening or cooking movement of the gun parts.

"The accompanying drawings illustrate two examples of construction of the cooking device .according to the invention, in one case with a single and in the other case with a double acting ratchet mechanism.

Fig. l is a cross-section through the firearm showing a cooking mechanism with a single acting ratchet device.

Figj2 shows the cooking mechanism of Fig. 1 together with the adjacent parts of the rearm.

Fig. 3 is a plan of the cooking mechanism.

Fig. 4 is a top view of a detail.

Figs. -8 are corresponding illustrations of the cooking device with a double acting ratchet mechanism.

The barrel b is accommodated in the gun casing a so as to be slidable longitudinally against the influence of a recuperator spring in the `breech opening movement. The breech block c, which is adapted to be returned under tension `oi" a separate breech closing spring, is provided `with anarm` c1 which protrudes laterally through a longitudinal slot in the casing a. When the gun is being loaded, this arm ci engages a projection d1 on a slide d and draws the slide rearwardly with it, the slide moving in lateral longitudinal guides a1 in the gun housing. Between the guides ai and fixed to the casing ar there is disposed a rack e.

The slide d is suitably formed to accommodate a bolt d2 and pivotally mounted about this bolt is a hand lever f, the forked ends f1, f2 of which embrace the bolt d2. Also mounted on the bolt for rotation relative thereto is a toothed wheel 9 which engages in the rack e. By cutting away alternate teeth on the wheel g to the extent of half the width thereof, the wheel is arranged to have twice the number of teeth on one side that it has on the other (see Fig. 3). The hand lever f is bored longitudinally and in the bore is mounted so as to be longitudinally displaceable therein, a rod f4 which is loaded by a spring f3 in such manner as to press a tooth f5 (Fig. 2) on the rod towards that portio-n of the wheel g which has the fewer teeth. The flanks of this tooth f5 are shaped in such manner that the toothed wheel g` is moved by the tooth only in one pivotal direction of the hand lever f, the coupling tooth f5 being thrust back against the inuence of the spring f3 so that it slides idly over the teeth of the wheel when the hand lever f moves in the opposite direction.

On the hand lever f there is mounted, so as to be capable of both longitudinal displacement and rotary motion on the lever, a setting device h which has a transverse bolt h1 which passes through the hollow stem of the lever and the bar f4. The transverse bolt passes through a bifurcated opening in the walls of the hand lever f (Figs. 2 and 4), this opening having longitudinal slots f7, fa Which differ in length by an amount equal tothe height of the teeth of the wheel g.

By drawing back the. device h against the pressure of the spring f3 and subsequently turning the device, the bolt h1 can engage either in slot f7 or f8 so that the' coupling tooth fs may be brought either into or out of engagement with the toothed wheel g.

On the outer surface of the hand lever j is a tooth ,fg which, when the lever is swung into the position of rest on the gun, engages in the rack e, and prevents the slide d from slipping unintentionally, for instance when the gun recoils while being fired. When the coupling tooth f5 engages with the toothed wheel g, the resistance of the spring f3 prevents the lever f from swinging out directions.

laterally of its own accord so as to disengage the tooth fg from the rack e. n

On the wall of the slide d there is mounted a spring-loaded pawl i which is adapted to be moved into and out of its operative or engaging position by a linger grip i1, the pawl being pivotally mounted on a pin i2. This pawl i has a tooth i which passes through a slot in the slide wall and engages in the rack e. The pawl is arranged to be secured in the operative position by a leaf spring i3 and in this position the pawl i permits the slide d to be thrust back to allow the gun to be cocked, but it prevents the reverse or forward movement of the slide under the inuence of the force of the closing spring transmitted to the projection d1 by the arm c1 of the breech block. Y

For cocking and loading the gun, the handlever f, with the coupling tooth f5 brought into engagement with the toothed wheel g, is swung to and fro. In this operation the wheel g is turned in a series of steps in the direction indicated by an arrow in Fig. 2, and, by its engagement with the rack e, thrusts the slide d backwards against the influence of the recuperating mechanism associated with those parts of the gun which are moved backwards. The pawl z' prevents the slide d from moving forward again under the influence of the recuperator mecha nism, between the step-like movements and while the lever f is being idly swung back. It would, of course, also be possible to cock the gun, once the coupling tooth f5 is disengaged from the wheel g by a straight pull on the lever f by hand. After the gun has been fully cocked by swinging the lever f the coupling tooth f5 is withdrawn by the device h and the pawl i is disengaged from the rack e. The slide d can then be moved freely by hand or by the breech during its recoil movement, into its front position of rest, during which operation the wheel g runs idly on the rack e. By placing the lever f against the gun housing and by the engagement of the tooth fs with the rack e, the cocking mechanism is fixed in relation to the gun. When the coupling tooth f5 is engaged in the wheel g the lever f is secured against swinging out laterally from its position against the gun, and therefore against unintentional longitudinal movement while the gun is being red. v

In the form of construction shown in Figs'. 5 8, instead cf a ratchet mechanism with an idle return stroke, there is provided a mechanism which is effective to carry out the cocking operation when the hand lever f is moved in both Between the forked ends f1, f2 of the hand lever f which are adapted to pivot about the bolt d2 carried on the slide d, there are mounted two toothed wheels g', go likewise adapted to turn about the bolt d2, and these toothed wheels are in engagement with each other by means of an intermediate toothed wheel gz. The wheel g-as in the previous example, has on its periphery two rings of teeth which run parallel, one of which co-operates with the rack e and the other with the pawl f5. 'Ihe wheel go is connected with a pawl fe. The tooth-flanks of the two pawls f5 and f6 are so shaped that one carries the appropriate wheel gf or go along when the lever f is moved to the left and the other when the lever f is moved to the right. Both pawls f5', fe are guided separately in transverse walls fn, f12 on the lever f so as to be axially displaceable against the influence of springs f3 and are adapted to be displaced by the setting device h longitudinally in the cocking lever f, and the pin h1 connected therewith and passing through the pawls, the said pawls being adapted to be returned together out of engagement with the teeth of the wheels g', go. The pawls are adapted to be xed in the disengaged position when the device h is turned and the bolt h1 enters the slot f8 of the opening fe.

The slide d carries a pawl i' which is adapted to pivot about a pin i2, and this pawl is subjected to the influence of a spring i3 which keeps it in engagement on the rack e.

If the lever f is moved in anti-clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 6 ,the pawl f5 carries with it the Wheel g', which rolls on the rack e while displacing the slide d and consequently the breech block c by means of the projection d1. The wheel gu is thereby turned in the opposite direction by means of the intermediate wheel g2, so that the pawl fs', owing to its shape, is pressed back against the influence of its loading spring f3', and the teeth of the wheel go slide under the pawl tooth fe. If now, on the other hand, the lever J is turned in the clockwise direction, then the pawl fs carries with it the wheel go which, by Way of the wheel yz mounted on the stub axle d2, moves the toothed wheel g' again in its original direction of rotation, and opens the breech wider.

When the breech is fully opened, where the block can be held in known manner by a trigger catch, then by drawing back and turning the setting lever h, the pawls f5', f6' are disengaged from the teeth of the wheels g', go'. The lever f can now be folded against the slide d. A projection fo provided on the lever f now disengages the pawl i from the teeth of the rack e while at the same time the lever f is held to the slide d by a gripping spring do. The cocking mechanism is now free to be thrust forward into itsV forward 'Y end position, where, after a manually effected engagement of the pawls f5', s in the toothed wheels q', go', it is xed as a whole in respect of the rack e.

We claim:

1. In an automatic gun having a housing and a recoiling system slidably mounted therein; a cocking mechanism comprising a rack on the housing extending in the direction of recoil, a slide movable on said housing parallel to the rack, means on the slide engaging the recoiling system to cock the same, gear means in the slide arranged to roll on said rack and having teeth'engaging the rack, a manually operable lever pivoted on the slide about the axis of said gear means, and ratchet pawl means engageable with said gear means and mounted on the lever.

2. In an automatic gun having a housing and a recoiling system slidably mounted therein; a cocking mechanism comprising a rack on the housing extending in the direction of recoil, a slide movable on said housing parallel to the rack, means on the slide engaging the recoiling system to cock the same, gear means in the slide arranged to roll cn said rack and having teeth engaging the rack, a manually operable lever pivoted on the slide about the axis of said gear means, ratchet pawl means engageable with said gear means and mounted on the lever, and means for retaining the slide in its rearrnost position on the housing.

3. A cocking mechanism for automatic guns according to claim l, in which the gear means is a gear wheel with two sets of teeth one set engaging the rack and the other set cooperating with the ratchet pawl means.

4. In an automatic gun having a housing and a recoiling system slidably mounted therein; a cooking mechanism comprising a rack on the housing extending in the direction of recoil, a slide movable on said housing parallel to the rack, means on the slide engaging the recoiling system to cock the same, gear means in the slide arranged to roll on said rack and having teeth engaging the rack, a manually operable lever pivoted on the slide about the axis of said gear means, ratchet paWl means engageable with said gear means and mounted on the lever, and means for bringing the ratchet paWl means into and out of engagement with said gear means.

system during operation of said lever in both drections.

GEORG ENGEL. ALFRED WINTER. 

